Who's Laughing Now?
by WDCain Man
Summary: Joker is not happy when a pharmacist manages to turn his lethal laughing gas into a life-saving medicine and pays him a visit but finds the encounter not to his liking. A Joker deconstruction story.


_**A Batman fanfic – Who's Laughing Now?  
**__**Written by WDCain Man**_

Disclaimer: Batman was created by Bob Kane and owned by DC Comics, which is owned by Warner-Brothers. No money is being made with this story. No profit is being made from this fanfic.

This was inspired by all the Joker stories in the last decade, or as I see it: Over-exposure. So this is a deconstruction of the clown prince of crime but one that doesn't come off as hateful like so many stories of that nature do. Enjoy!

**XXXXXXX**  
_**Who's Laughing Now?  
**_By WDCain Man  
**XXXXXXX**

Within his brownstone office, genius chemist Dr. Jay Chapin was working on the mechanics of future formulas. His math was right but there was a lot to consider if he was going to expand his startup company. Profits were through the roof now but they weren't going to stay that way unless he could get this to work.

"Yoo hoo, doctor! I have a bad case of the Pagliacci melancholy, could you whip me up some pills for that? It'd help if they were made out of your brains!"

The young businessman looked up and saw him, the Joker. Grinning ear-to-ear and dressed in his ludicrous purple pinstripe suit, he strode into Chapin's office like he owned the place, rifling through confidential paperwork before tossing them onto the floor.

The clown was impressed Chapin didn't reach for a gun or start running. Instead he stood his ground sitting in his chair and fixed him an icy stare. "So you know."

It was a statement, not a question which Joker thought it was. "That you somehow managed to water-down my wonderfully deadly Joker toxin, Smilex, into some sort of generic pain killer for some big bucks? Indeed I do, Chapie! I admit I was mighty surprise when my enforcer Bruno came back from the hospital after getting gutted by Victor Zsasz with a familiar grin after getting treated. I took a look at his meds and color me surprise how much his meds were similar to my gastly giggle gas."

Chapin never bat an eye. "Its usage is more complex than that. Removing the deliberately _lethal_ effects you intended has promoted your laughing gas into a non-addictive pain reliever. Now due to the low stress it places on the body and fast effects, it has been shown to be more reliable than most conventional pharmaceuticals and at its low production costs, less of a burden on finances."

Joker grinned as he saw the flaws like he always does. "It's always about the money, so much for the humanitarian act about helping people."

"Money is what makes the world go round, it's a fact, but that doesn't mean I can help people while staying in the red. I keep prices low enough so I can still turn a profit while having my product reach the consumer and fund further research. I take it you're here about royalties you feel are owed?"

"Not quite, medicine man. I can get all the money I want by working the rackets but you've done two things that really turned my smile sour. One: You had the sheer audacity to trademark my wonderful laughing gas; and two – you dared to change perfection by watering it down like you did!" Joker produced a knife and held it steady at Chapin's face. "Naughty, naughty."

"You'd think the man who had the insane idea to try and copyright fish would have the foresight to register a patent on his own formulas," he said, rolling his eyes. "The second you should be proud of since it's what you're going to be remembered for instead of all that crazy clown and crime stuff."

That caught Joker's attention since his manic grin shrunk to a small smirk. "Explain. Now!"

Chapin sighed like he was tired having to explain the obvious to a child. "People aren't made to be stationary. We always remove forward, building things, and adding onto what's come before. All you've ever done is frighten folks while you wreck things like an angry mass shooter and that pharmaceutical I refined from your death gas is going to save countless lives for years. Doctors, pharmacists, and patients will know its name and effects long after you're dead and forgotten.

"Fact facts clown, I just gave you a legitimate footnote in medical history. Be proud of it, since that's going to be remembered more than any little violent act you'll ever commit in your miserable life."

"I am an agent of chaos, you useless bottle of spit!" Joker hissed. "I know you have trouble processing that since you've never looked beyond your chemistry books and profit spreadsheets so let me tell you a thing how the world works-"

"I think that I, a _scientist_, am more qualified to explain how the world works than an escaped mental patient with a predisposition of abusing women." Chapin cut the clown off, which he really didn't like.

"You… know… nothing!" Joker levied the knife right at Chapin's eyes. "I have seen what happens when things get rough for people that make up that society you're oh-so proud of and happy to help build up! All it takes it a little knock, one loud sound, and they'll grab the sledgehammers and start tearing down everything that could help just because breaking things is their first impulse when things go wrong! That's what-" Joker stopped his rant when he saw Chapin mocking him by flapping his hand like it wouldn't stop talking. "You… dare-!"

"You're just so boring! I've listen to your act and it's just repetition on the same one-note joke!" Chapin looked beyond the knife directly into Joker's eyes. "Everything you say is a spin on that gotcha meme of that picture of the poor guy saying _'I think we should improve society'_ while a grinning twat mocks _'but you precipitate in society. I am very intelligent,'_ but with total seriousness!"

That made Joker drop the knife as his blood boiled. "Who the _hell_ do you think you are?"

"Someone who's got you figured out! Past the super-villain getup, you're that asshole from high-school who thinks he's got the world figured out just because he comes from a bad home.! You think you're justified bullying and hurting other students since they deserve it for not sticking up for themselves or because there's no one around to stop you! God, you're so predictable!"

Chapin stood up, uncaring for Joker's blazing white-hot rage, and walked away. "I'm leaving. You're boring and I've got more important things to do with my time than listening to you."

The clown was practically frothing when he turned around to see Chapin reach the door. He never even heard Batman and Robin crash through the window and was so blind with rage that he couldn't even feel their blows as they beat him unconscious.

**XXXXXXX**

On the other side of the door, Dr. Jay Chapin breathed a sigh of relief. There were so many ways that could have gone down. If Joker had attacked him, the only way he would have survived was if the clown hit him with the laughing gas; then he could have used the counteragent in his desk to negate the lethal effects.

Chapin might have to fake his death just to keep the clown from going after his loved ones; but that would mean that he would have to set up plans to keep his patients in the right hands to keep prices low. Bruce Wayne has been repeatedly shown to do such that so perhaps it would be best to call Lucas Fox and arrange a buyout. This would free him up to work more on his other projects like watering down Bane's Venom for recovery steroid therapy and Scarecrow's fear toxin as a medicine to treat addiction by creating hesitation for the source of their cravings. A team of botanists would need to analyze Poison Ivy's growth formulas and super fertilizers.

Then there were his tech ideas: Disassembling Penguin's flying umbrella revealed an efficient small-scale flight engine useful for drone use and Mad Hatter's VR-inducing headgear could have multiple usages for treating PTSD. The cryo-tech of Mr. Freeze was still above his level, but Chapin knew he could retrofit the armor and freeze-gun for multiple usages like food preservation, combating rising water temperatures, and medical organ storage.

And to think, he owned all the trademarks since none of the baddies bothered to file any paperwork!

"Why in the world does anyone think these people are geniuses? They're mega-dumb!" Dr. Jay Chapin laughed to himself.

**XXXXXXX  
**_**The End.  
**_**XXXXXXX**

I hope everyone enjoyed this. Jay Chapin is a recurring character I use based off a good friend of mine. He's a super-scientist but here I turned down his insanity and made him more grounded and an optimist. I rather like this take on him and might use it more in future stories.

I have a problem with this fanfic. One of my biggest gripes with myself as a writer is that I always feel that I move too fast through scenes and stories so I always feel that a better writer would have made a better story out of my story by making it twice as long. Do any of you feel that way about this? I'd really like to know if my pacing is an issue.

I mean everything about the Joker here. I love the dude but it does make my eyes roll how so many essays and video rants there are detailing his psychosis. He's just a lying awful sociopath with max charisma. That's all there is to it. Having a powerful and charming personality is incredibly dangerous when that person is a violent criminal. I don't see why people think the Joker something more akin to a Cthulhu monster whose mere presence drives people to madness.

But regardless, I do have hope for future of the character. I absolutely love how he was written in DC's Harleen Black Label comic. I really hope there is a sequel to the comic since I would love to see how the lunatic react to Harley leaving him for Poison Ivy. I can't wait!

So since this is my last update for the year, I will list my favorites of 2019.

Favorite new game: _Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments_ was really surprising even though I'm a big Sherlock fan. I've already started buying the other ones to try them out. I can't wait to play them.

Favorite new comic: _Immortal Hulk_ easily. The last super-hero horror comic I read was Alan Moore's _Swamp Thing_ and this is a worthy successor to it. I also really liked Jonathon Hickman's _Powers/House of X_ series. On the independent scene, I loved _Wizzywig_, a tale of hackers in the early age of computers. I would love it to get an animated adaption.

Favorite new cartoon: Genndy Tartakovsky's _Primal_ is mind-blowing and shows why he's the kind of animated action and suspense, though _DC Super-Hero Girls_ is a lot of fun. I really hope both cartoons get picked up for a second season and get a physical release.

Favorite new anime: _Revolutionary Girl Utena_ was a blast from the blast from the past that had me captivated from beginning to the end. The anime was so good that I honestly got angry over how bad the dub was. Why on earth did Eva get a new dub but this classic is stuck with the abomination of bad acting the localizers crapped out? Watch only in subs, folks!

Favorite new novel: _Street Fighter the Novel: Where Strength Lies_ by Takashi Yano. I got a little grin at the part where Chun-Li admitted to crushing on Ryu. That was my fan-boy moment. This book would have blown my mind as a kid but it's still a fun read even now.

Favorite new TV show: _Doom Patrol_. I'm laughing one minute then feeling empathy back-to-back yet not in that forced way most entertainment does by ignoring audience engagement. The show perfectly captures Grant Morrison's DP run and I can't wait to see season two.

Favorite new musician: Matt Bomer. I first heard him sing Kelley Clarkson's "People Like Us" on _Doom Patrol_ and I got hooked on his music. The man has an amazing voice. I got to get some of his CDs.

Favorite new movie: _Alita: Battle Angel_ was so good. I read the manga long ago and this was the most faithful movie adaption I've watched since the Sam Raimi _Spider-Man_ movies. And speaking of the web-head, _Into the Spider-Verse_ was also amazing and definitely the best cartoon movie I'd seen all year. It's definitely the best version of Miles Morales origin story I'd ever seen and the only one I now consider as canon. I can't wait to see what they do for the sequel.

May all of you have a Happy New Year!


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